#TeaserTuesday A steamy excerpt from Into The Darkness. #FdUpFairyTale #SirensTales #Paranormal

Happy Tuesday! Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my novella, Into The Darkness. This story is part of the F’d Up Fairy Tales series – naughty fairy tales written by a group of awesome authors.

Be sure to read them all after you enjoy this excerpt from, Into The Darkness.

Once Upon A Time…

There lived a witch by the name of Celeste Dubois, who was tired of her sister witches disturbing her eternal slumber with their cries. Lately, they all called out to her with the same plea, ‘stop Rip Van Warren, the witch hunter’.

Unable to ignore their cries, she lures Rip into her world, where she keeps him as her prisoner for twenty years. She had every intention of torturing him for those twenty years. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

For twenty years Rip Van Warren is held captive by a beautiful bayou witch. He should hate her. However, their time together has made him rethink his vendetta against witches. All of his life he thought magic was evil. Celeste has taught him that it’s a gift to be treasured, almost as much as he treasures her.

When an unexpected threat enters their lives, Celeste is forced to send him back to his own world in order to protect him. He awakens in the middle of the swamp, confused and dazed. His memories of the last twenty years are foggy.

Yet, there’s one person he’ll never forget, the witch he left behind. He’s desperately seeking a way back to her. However, the witches of New Orleans aren’t willing to help a famous witch hunter.

Will the dark witch and the dark hunter have their happily ever after?
Or will he return too late to save the witch he loves?

They both grew silent. He could hear her moving around in the water. He tried not to, but he couldn’t stop himself from imagining what she looked like behind the curtain.

“Rip?”

“Uh, huh? Yeah? What’s up?”

“I’ve apologized. But you haven’t told me whether you forgive me or not.”

Oh that. “Do I have a choice?”

“Of course. Forgiveness cannot be forced.”

True. Did he forgive her? She’d kidnapped him, sent him into a coma and was forcing him to work in the forest. But, he’d destroyed the magic of some of her kind and killed others. If their deeds were placed on a scale, his bad would outweigh hers.

“Yeah, witch, I forgive you.”
He heard her sigh.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Rip shoved his hands into his pockets and stared around the room. So… was their conversation over with? He was no longer needed. She’d said what she’d had to say. He’d forgiven her. They were cool… for now.

He knew witches. He’d studied them all his life. He knew this was a trick of some sort. That didn’t stop him from agreeing.

“Yes, witch, I’ll wash your back.”

He took a step back when he saw her silhouette pulling the shower curtain back. Down boy, he whispered to his body. She’s a witch. There’s no telling what she has up her sleeve. Proceed with caution.

She moved the curtain out of the way, revealing her back to him. She was seated in the tub and all he could see was her shoulders and upper back.

“You can’t do it from way over there,” she called over her shoulder.

Rip realized he’d taken three steps back. He took a deep breath then walked forward until he stood at the edge of the tub, staring down at her. Bubbles shielded her body from his view. Rip sent up a silent prayer, thanking his maker for bubbles.

He didn’t want to see her naked. Not one inch of her. She lifted her knees and part of her thighs peeked through the water. He balled his hands into fists. He could wash the back of one small witch without losing his shit.

She lifted this puff ball out of the water. A red loofah. Rip knelt behind the tub, bringing his face level with the back of her head. As he reached for the loofah, he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. Intoxicating.

Their hands touched when he grasped the loofah. A jolt of electricity sizzled between them. His already hard cock jerked. Thankfully, with her back to him, she couldn’t see his reaction to her.

Rip pulled the loofah from her hand. She leaned forward and tilted her head down, revealing more of her back to him. He wanted to touch her, not with the loofah, with his hands. He wanted to rub his fingers over her skin to see if it was as smooth as it looked.

She lifted her hair from her shoulder. Droplets of water ran down her back then disappeared beneath the bubbles.

“Something wrong?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay.”

Rip dipped the loofah in the water then proceeded to rub it across her shoulders. The thing was so small in his grasp, more of his hand was touching her than loofah. She didn’t say anything, and he didn’t want to stop touching her, so he kept going.

He dipped the loofah into the water again and then squeezed it over her shoulders, allowing it to drip down her back. He rubbed it over her back, lathering her flesh, then dipping the loofah into the water and dripping it over her skin to remove the suds.

He focused on her neck as he worked, fearing if he stared anywhere else, he’d embarrass himself in front of her. Once he was done, he stretched his arm out.

“Done. Here’s your loofah.”

She didn’t take it. Instead, she stared over her shoulder at him, her brown gaze meeting his.